ESPN called him “Mr. Fishing USA,” a statement that causes him to cringe whenever anyone reminds him about it. Outdoor Life Network dubbed him “one of the best fishermen on the planet,” which his friends gladly remind him about when he fails to catch a fish. Perhaps a little less hyperbolically, The Wall Street Journal said his Fishing Encyclopedia was “a treasure,” USA TODAY said it was “exhaustive,” and The New York Times said it was “a major accomplishment.”
Literally tens of millions of people read Ken Schultz’s articles for more three decades in the pages of Field & Stream, and he has eighteen books to his credit, one of them being the aforementioned encyclopedia. If there’s anyone who can authoritatively cover all bases of the sportfishing world, it’s Ken Schultz.
Schultz is widely known as having been a
longtime staff writer, and Fishing Editor, of Field & Stream, where
he wrote about all types of fishing topics and traveled widely to compile information.
He was also a feature contributor to their website, writing about assorted
topics and answering reader questions, and a key contributor to their radio
shows and to their brief television series.
Schultz is also a former fishing editor for ESPNOutdoors.com, a former nationally syndicated newspaper columnist for Gannett News Service, and was a contributor to the Sports pages of The New York Times throughout the 1990s. His writing has appeared in many other magazines, newspapers, and websites, and in assorted brochures, games, puzzles, posters, and specialty publications.
In the broadcast arena, Schultz was a commentator for ESPN’s Saturday-morning show Bass Center; his practical fishing tips and Gear Guide segments were long televised on the Outdoor Life Network; and he appeared on various shows on TNN, ESPN, ESPN2, as well as on CNBC, CourtTV, and The Weather Channel. In addition to contributing to numerous episodes of two different Field & Stream Radio series, he has been a guest on hundreds of outdoor radio programs across North America, mostly while promoting his books or Field & Stream.
Schultz was inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 1998, and is a former holder of seven IGFA-certified fishing world records.
He has written and photographed eighteen books on sportfishing and angling-travel topics. His landmark 1,916-page book, Ken Schultz’s Fishing Encyclopedia & Worldwide Angling Guide, was published in October 1999 to rave reviews around the world, including being featured on the NBC TODAY show and as a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. An acclaimed bestseller, it has been translated into several foreign languages.
Schultz’s popular 1996 book Successful Bass Fishing is widely recognized as one of the best ever written on that topic, and was picked as one of the Top 25 sportfishing books by Field & Stream in April 1999. Of course, that was before the magazine saw his fishing encyclopedia, which covers everything there is to know about bass and some 500 other species.
His most recent books are Ken Schultz’s Fishing Essentials, Bass Madness, Ken Schultz’s Field Guide to Freshwater Fish, and Ken Schultz’s Field Guide to Saltwater Fish, all published by John Wiley & Sons.
Ken Schultz was one of the first sportswriters
to create his own web site, initially starting KenSchultz.com in 1999 to
promote his books.
In early 2000, after his Fishing Encyclopedia was published, Ken partnered with i9 Interactive of New York City to create an enormous informational-content web site, which at that time contained all of the content of his encyclopedia (over 1.5 million words and more than 1,500 graphic elements!) in an easily searchable format. The web site was hosted by IBM small business servers, and was prominently featured at IBM’s prestigious Partner World Conference in Atlanta in February 2001.
The site received a Golden Web Award in 2001, and was widely previewed in various media. The following is a small selection of media comments about the site then and its contents:
"Ken Schultz offers angling advice online at his own Web site, including tips on everything……"
USA TODAY Hot Sites - What's new, cool and notable on the Web, September 9, 2000
"……the most informative freshwater and
saltwater angling destination on the web……."
Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader, December 10, 2000
"good news for more than 50 million
anglers."
New York Times Special Features, October, 2000
"many fishing sites lack authority and
comprehension……. a benefit [to the web site] is that Schultz can constantly
update it."
Associated Press, November 2000
"……awesome authority and range……available
via www.kenschultz.com."
Field & Stream Magazine, December 2000
"The overall good economy has prompted an
increase in the number of people who are willing to spend a lot on fishing,
says angling authority Ken Schultz of www.kenschultz.com.”
Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2000
"Schultz knows his stuff. This will be a
valuable asset to the veteran tournament angler and the weekend warrior. To get
a peek, log on to www.kenschultz.com. You won't be sorry."
St. Petersburg (FL) Times, December 18, 2000
"Schultz has recently launched an on-line
angling community and encyclopedic website providing comprehensive angling information
on the world wide web at www.kenschultz.com."
The Herald Press, New Britain, CT, September 24, 2000
"Everything an angler needs to know."
Welch Daily News, Welch, WV, November 22, 2000
"Schultz, one of North America's best-known
fishing experts…….recently launched the Web site for anglers."
Montreal Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, September 2, 2000
"…….a good catch for fishermen."
Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Atlanta, GA, October 16, 2000
"His recently launched Web site,
www.kenschultz.com, offers tips on fishing and fishing vacations…….[and]
includes a New Anglers page featuring fishing basics."
Boston Herald, Boston, MA, September 3, 2000
By mid 2002, the site had terrific reviews and great feedback but little advertising to support it, and when the dot-com boom went bust the partnership ended. KenSchultz.com was drastically cut back to become an expository for Ken’s latest books and a place where collectors could purchase personally inscribed and autographed copies. Meanwhile Ken turned his attention to other book projects and to providing varied content to other Web sites. When Ken ended his three-decade-long association with Field & Stream in late 2004, there were 182 feature stories authored by him on that magazine’s Web site. In early 2005 he became Fishing Editor of espnoutdoors.com, primarily writing destination features for them. Some of his destination features appeared on this site. The site was redesigned several times, most recently in June 2011, and though books are no longer sold directly through this site, it still supports those items as well as the annual calendar that Ken writes and photographs.
